Design Optimization of Quasi-Active Gate Control for Series-Connected Power Devices

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 2705 - 2714
• Main Authors: Teerakawanich, Nithiphat, Johnson, C. Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.2014; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active gate control (AGC); Applied sciences; Capacitors; Circuits; Design optimization; Devices; Dynamics; Effectiveness studies; Electric potential; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical machines; Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; gate driver; Gates (circuits); Leakage currents; Logic gates; Oscillators; Other multijunction devices. Power transistors. Thyristors; power devices; Power electronics, power supplies; Power supply; Regulation and control; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; series connection; Simulation; Stacks; Switches; Switching; Switching circuits; Transistors; Voltage; voltage balancing circuit; Voltage control; Passive component; Control circuit; Active gate control (AGC); Stacking; Power system stability; Driver; gate driver; Power supply; Stability criterion; Implementation; Optimal design; Gating circuits; Active system; Oscillation; Active control; Series connection; Gate voltage; Insulated gate bipolar transistor; Power system control; Power electronics; Experimental study; Switching; Standards; Power control; Automatic generation control; voltage balancing circuit; Power device; System simulation; power devices
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2013.2274158

This paper presents a new gate drive circuit for driving a series string of insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The proposed quasi-active gate control (QAGC) circuit is simple to implement as it consists of only a few passive components in addition to a standard gate driver. No separate isolation power supply is required for the upper devices in the stack. The proposed QAGC circuit provides an effective way to drive the power devices and control static and dynamic voltage sharing to the devices at the same time. The theoretical switching operation and the oscillation stability analysis allow criteria for component selection to be established. Limitations of the QAGC circuit are also identified. The modification of the circuit to support more power devices in the series stack is discussed with the aid of the simulation results. The switching operation of the circuit is validated from the experimental results using two IGBTs connected in series. The circuit shows an excellent switching operation with well-controlled dynamic and static voltage sharing and comparable gate voltage between the coupled devices.